A Cruel Angel's Thesis
by Aquamarine Shadows
Summary: Tori came to Karakura almost in time for summer. Strange events begin to happen to her that she can't explain. Is there something that her mom never told her? Ichi/OC Friendship
1. The Start of a Living Nightmare

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach. All that's mine are my OCs and this

"Tori, can you go get some milk for me?" Sachiko asked her daughter.

"Whyyy? I'm almost done with this level! Just ten more metalheads to go!" she whined.

"If you want milk in the morning, then you have to get it yourself. Now, put up the game and get going. The convenience store closes in ten minutes."

Tori sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll go." She slipped on her black converse and red jacket.

-

She shivered as a chilly breeze whipped her hair in her face. She wished she had a heavier coat. "Thanks a lot, wind. You just raped my hair," she said quietly. As she walked and attempted to fix her part, she got the feeling that there was something behind her. Tori turned around. Nothing there.

'This is like one of those horror movies when the victim is being followed by something, and they can't tell where it is until they're attacked,' she thought.

The ground trembled a little, and she felt this force she couldn't describe. Tori turned around again. A huge monster with a weird mask and a hole in its chest circled her like a buzzard. Its calloused skin was green, and it looked sort of like a pterodactyl with purple wings. She tried to scream, but nothing came out of her throat. Her feet were glued to the ground.

'For Christ's sake, move! C'mon, Tori MOVE!' she said to herself. The monster dived at her just when she was finally able to run. Tori ran as fast as she could down the street, stumbling over a few manholes along her way. The monster was catching up fast, and she couldn't run for much longer. She moved away from the street and into a park. Then she lost her footing as she stepped in a hole in the ground and fell to the ground. Tori scrambled to her feet, and as she tried to run again sharp pains shot through her ankle. She could only limp so fast. She fell to the ground again, the monster close behind. Tori was waiting for it to attack her, but nothing happened. She looked behind her to see what had happened. From where she was sitting, she could only see a dark figure fending off the monster with a sword. Whoever it was pushed the monster away, jumped up, and instantly cut it in two. The monster evaporated in thin air. The person walked toward Tori.

"Are you ok?" It was a boy's voice. He bent down to her eye level. "You're not hurt or anything are you?" She got a better look at the boy and saw a concerned look on his face. He had orange hair, a black kimono, and a sword on his back.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking," she said. He held a hand out to her, and she took it. The boy pulled her up. "Thanks- aaaaah!" She felt a splitting pain in her ankle and heard a bone crack.

"What's wrong?! Did I do something? I'm sorry!" he panicked.

"No, my ankle!"

"Oh, let me help! Here, get on my back," the boy said. He bent down, and Tori did as she was told. He started to run down the street.

"Why are you running so fast? There's no need to rush!" she said nervously. He stopped at a park bench and sat her down on it.

"I'll be back in a minute. Just stay there," he said as he ran off into the park. When he came back he was wearing regular clothes. Then the boy pulled out this weird thing with a duck on the top of it and held it in front of her. She looked at it curiously as a flash came from it.

"Pretty birdies..." she slurred. Tori looked at him like she was in a drug-induced haze. "Who are you, mister?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki. I saw you collapse in the middle of the road. Seems that you tripped over a bottle and hit your head. Now, let's get you home. Which way is your house?"

The effects of the flash began to wear off, and Tori spoke more clearly, "Uh... go two blocks north of here, and turn left. My house is the third one on the left." Tori got on his back again and he started walking where he was instructed to.

"Tori Arisawa." They were almost there when she remembered what she went out for. "Crap! The milk!"

"Huh?"

"It's not important. You can go right in," she said. He walked up the steps to the door and opened the door.

"Tori!!! You're home! I was getting wor-" Sachiko stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Ichigo with Tori on his back. He set her down on a nearby chair. "Who's the boy? And what happened to you?" She gestured at the scrapes on her arms.

"This is Ichigo Kurosaki. I tripped over a pop bottle or something and he helped me home," she said.

"She twisted her ankle. You might want to have that checked out," Ichigo said.

"Explains the milk! You didn't bring home any milk!" Sachiko pointed a shaky finger at her.

"I come home hurt and all you care about is the milk?!"

"Is it even possible to get hurt over a pop bottle?!"

"Uhh, I think I'll go now. Bye, Tori!" Ichigo called as he quickly escaped out the front door.

"Thanks Mom, thanks a lot. You scared the poor guy away."

0o0o0

_Tori saw herself in the way of Vin Diesel. He slowly made his way toward her and embraced her in his strong arms, smiling at her lovingly. She felt her face heat up. She couldn't think of anything more than the essence of his smell, the feel of his toned chest against hers, and their lips as they neared..._

"TORI, WAKE UP!" Sachiko shouted from downstairs. Tori flinched at her mother's surprise wake up call.

"Coming," she grumbled. She slowly got out of bed and got dressed in her school uniform. Tori limped down the stairs, still half asleep.

"You always have to ruin the best part, Mom..."

"Hurry up and get ready. Today's your first day at your new school! Aren't you excited?!" the slim brunette said with a wide grin.

"Whatever..." She ate her breakfast and quickly finished getting ready. Her long, black hair was pulled out of her face with a clip, leaving her bangs on her forehead. She said bye to her mom and left the house.

Her ankle ached from the night before as she walked to school. She couldn't help but think about her weird memories of last night. She could've sworn there was more to the story than just tripping over a pop bottle.

Tori entered the doors to her new school and walked to her homeroom. She watched the students talk amongst themselves for awhile. Then the bell rang, and the students all scrambled to their seats. The teacher looked at Tori when she came in.

"Oh! You must be the new student," she said. Then she turned to the class. "Class, I'd like you all to meet the new student we've been waiting for so anxiously. Now if you don't mind introducing yourself?"

"I'm Tori Arisawa. It's nice to meet all of you," she said.

"Ok, Tori. Now if you'd take that seat next to the window." She pointed toward a seat near the back.

"Yes ma'am." Tori took her book bag and sat in her assigned seat. She looked at her surroundings. The girl in front of her was scribbling down notes while the boy sitting next to her was sleeping. She thought she might do him a favor and wake him up. She shook his shoulder.

"Hey! Wake up! Class already started!" she whispered. The boy stirred. He looked awfully familiar to her.

"It's you!" they both said.

"Well you better pay attention. Class started about five minutes ago." Ichigo took out his notes and started writing down what was on the board.

0o0o0

When lunch came, Tori was quickly surrounded by a small crowd of students. The first to reach her was a brown-haired boy a little taller than her.

"Hi! I'm Keigo Asano! Welcome to Karakura High! I'll show you around sometime." Keigo clung to Tori's arm like there was no tomorrow.

"Thanks but I'll pass," she said while trying to pry the boy off of her. Tatsuki pushed through the crowd.

"Back off! Give the poor girl some space, would you? She just got here!" she said.

"Thanks Tatsuki," Tori said with relief.

"You know her, Tatsuki?" a girl with long orange hair and rather large breasts said.

"We're cousins," Tatsuki said nonchalantly.

"Cousins?! You never said you had a cousin!" the girl said. Tori remembered Tatsuki describing a girl like her.

'Oh, what's her name again? Ori...Ori... Oh screw it. Ori-what's-her-name can tell me herself,' she thought. "So Tatsuki, why don't you introduce me to your friends here?"

"You've already met Keigo," she pointed to the cheery brown-haired boy she met earlier. "I've told you about Orihime."

'Aha!'

"Chizuru is the red head trying to harass Orihime, Mizuiro is the player," she pointed to a black-haired boy standing near them, "and over there we have Ichigo," Tatsuki gestured at the desk next to Tori's where Ichigo was sitting and eating his lunch.

"You can eat lunch with us, Tori!" Orihime said.

"Uh.. sure," she said. The poor girl had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"You wanna try the desert I made?" Orihime said with a bright smile.

"Why not? What is it?" she said.

"Brownie surprise! They're brownies with a surprise filling in the middle!"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt... Give me one."

"No, Tori-" Tatsuki started. But she had already taken a big bite out of the brownie. Then the filling hit her.

"Is this relish?" she said weakly.

"Probably. It's called brownie surprise for a reason," Orihime laughed.

'This girl is trying to kill me!' Tori thought. "I'm gonna go get a soda. Be back in a minute." She slowly stood up but not without stumbling a bit.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tatsuki said.

"I'm alright. I think it's just a sprain," Tori said nonchalantly.

"Come with me." She grabbed a hold of her arm and dragged her to the girl's bathroom.

"What are we-"

"You've been limping all day. Let me see your ankle," Orihime said. She bent down and unwrapped the bandages on it. Sure enough it was swollen. "Just give me a minute or two. I can fix this." Tori looked at her confusedly. "Souten kishun, I reject!" A small orange shield appeared over her ankle.

"What are you-"

"I'm healing your ankle. This is an ability I've had for a couple years now, but we'll talk about that some other time." In a couple of minutes later Tori's ankle was completely healed. The swelling and everything was gone.

"Thanks a lot Orihime," she said.

xXxXx

Thanks for the reviews, so far! =) This first chapter has undergone some major (well, between major and minor) edits. Tori is currently going through a character rewrite. The second and third chapters are going to be edited before I post the fourth.

Happy reading,

~Kai


	2. Do You Believe In Curses?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach. I know you all are thinking it can't be true, but sadly, I do not. haha jk

xXxXx

Tori's encounters with Orihime and Ichigo were pretty normal for the rest of the week. That is, until that Friday. She was spacing out the window during English when she noticed Ichigo running across the school yard. He was wearing a black kimono, and he had a sword on his back. She swore there was something very familiar about this picture, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Miss Ochi, may I go to the bathroom?" she asked.

"Yes you may." Once Tori was far enough from the classroom, she broke out in a run. Ditching school wasn't really her thing, but this time curiosity got the better of her. She headed in the same direction that Ichigo went, trying to avoid windows. By the time Tori was off school campus and out of sight, she still hadn't seen Ichigo. However, she heard a crash about five blocks away from her. Before she could run off to see what had happened, she heard a screech. Tori turned around.

"Why do I have a feeling I've seen something like this before?" she said. A lizard-like monster with a mask and a hole in its neck looked at her like she was a tasty snack. Tori screamed at the top of her lungs and took off running. She weaved through the streets trying to lose it and ran into an alley.

It was a dead end.

Tori whined. Should she try to go back the way she came...

"I'd be lizard food. What a great way to die! I can picture my tombstone now: How does someone get eaten by a lizard?" she said to herself. Before the monster could reach her, a black and orange blur appeared before her. Ichigo sliced the monster in two, and it instantly disappeared into thin air.

"Ichigo?" she said.

"What are you doing here, Tori?" he said.

"I, uhh..." She tried to think of a good excuse for spying on him.

"Never mind," He sighed. "You sure like to attract trouble, don't you?"

"What do you mean attract trouble? That's the first time I- Wait a minute!" An image of the night she twisted her ankle popped up. It was only brief, but she saw a monster sort of like the one that was just after her. "What's going on here?"

"It's nothing you need to be concerned about. Are you ready to go back now?"

"Nah, I thought I'd stick around awhile and wait to get chased by another giant reptile," she said sarcastically. As she started to walk away, she realized something: she had no idea how to get back to school.

"Come on, I'll show you the way," he said. The two teenagers ran back out of the alley and through the back streets of Karakura. They took the back way into the school. All was quiet until Ichigo spoke up.

"Don't tell anyone about what you saw today, ok?" he said. "Not about that monster, not about me killing it. Don't tell a single soul."

"Yes sir," she said.

0o0o0

Tori walked down the streets of Karakura. It was dark, cool night, and there was a small summer breeze. The perfect night to take a short walk. After she was a few blocks from her house, she started to get the feeling that she was being followed. She just told herself that it was all in her head.

'Now's not the time to get all paranoid,' she thought. 'I really need to get home. It's getting colder!' Tori felt the breeze pick up. She swore she heard footsteps, but every time she turned around, she didn't see anything. Everything felt weird to her. It's like she was in a completely different world, but the scene that lay before her was still the same. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure move in the shadows. When she turned to see what it was, nothing was there.

"Hey! Who's there?! I know someone's there! Now show yourself!" she said.

No answer.

Tori inched forward and called out again. She searched for the creature, but she couldn't find anything of the sort. She began to panic.

"I'm losing it," she mumbled to herself and buried her face in her hands. She walked for a bit longer when she finally came to a street light. There was a bench underneath it, so she sat down. The breeze picked back up again. Tori shivered and looked around nervously.

"What's wrong, Nee-chan? There's nothing to be scared of," came a voice from her left. She turned her head so fast that she could have sworn she got whiplash. Standing before her was a small girl. She seemed no more than nine or ten years old. "Don't worry, you don't have anything to worry about. Or do you...?" she said darkly. Tori stood up.

'I'm not liking this girl...' she thought. "Who are you?!"

"That's not important right now," the girl said. Her long, silver hair blew behind her, and her bangs covered her eyes. She wore a long-sleeved, black dress with lots of lace and ribbons on it. There was a black bow tied around her neck. It looked like she just came back from some gothic lolita convention. Tori could have sworn that her eyes glowed red for a second.

"What do you want with me?" she said.

"Tell me, have your parents told you of the tale of Kame and Izanagi?" The girl cocked her head to the side. Tori nodded her head. She thought back to her childhood, trying to remember all the stories her parents told her.

During the Battle of Sekigahara, two successors of the Ieyasu and Toyotomi clans fell in love. The eldest daughter of the Ieyasu dynasty, Kame, fell in love with the unofficial successor to the Toyotomi clan, Izanagi Fukumitsu. His mother was Hideyoshi Toyotomi's mistress. Hideyoshi was furious when he found out about his son's betrayal. He considered it one of the biggest offenses. Kame's father also refused to hear of their relationship, and the two of them were sentenced to death for betrayal to their clans. It was said that every night they haunt the museum that holds the remains of the battle, or so she was told.

"Would you like to know how the story really ended?" she said right from behind Tori. The gray-haired girl put her arm around her shoulders, and her body tensed.

'When did she get there?!'

"Well...would you?" She slowly nodded. "The two lovers got their revenge. After they were executed, they set a curse upon the descendants of their clan. A curse that has yet to be broken. Do you believe in curses, Nee-chan?"

"I-I don't know..."

"I suggest that you start." With that the girl was gone. Her presence faded into the darkness of night.

0o0o0

The next day at school, the little girl's last words replayed in Tori's head over and over.

_"Do you believe in curses?..... I suggest that you start."_ No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what those words were supposed to mean.

'Maybe I'm over thinking all of this. I need to relax a little,' she thought.

When lunch came, her head hadn't cleared much. Almost everything she did reminded her of the night before.

"Hey, Tatsuki? I think I'm going to sit by myself today," she said. "I need some time to myself today." Tatsuki looked at her cousin confusedly.

"Ok..." she said.

Instead of being fed whatever poison Orihime had planned to shove down her throat, Tori sat under a tree and read Physics Today. She couldn't stand it any longer. It finally got to the point where she couldn't even focus on the astronomy article.

"Argh! I can't take it anymore!" she whined. She tossed the magazine aside and buried her head in her hands.

"Ouch! Where the hell did that come from?!" a voice said. Curious as to whom the voice belonged to, she poked her head around the other side of the tree. There sat a very irritated orange-haired boy.

"Uh, you alright?" she said.

"Aside from being assaulted by a science magazine, yeah I'm fine," Ichigo said.

"Sorry about that..." She scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse. But Physics Today? I never thought of you as the nerd type." He returned to his lunch.

"What can I say? I like the astronomy section," she said.

"Uh, alright... But why aren't you with Tatsuki and the other girls? Something wrong?" he said with a mouthful of noodles.

"It's nothing important. I just need to clear my mind," she said. He gave a small grunt, and stood up.

"Well I guess I'll see you later," he said as he headed back toward the school.

"Later," she muttered.

xXxXx

The old legend about the battle of Sekigahara was totally made up. Although the clans, the battle, and Kame are real, I made up Izanagi Fukumitsu ******. For future reference, the Bleach terms I use and honorifics are below. I did this with BTtS, so I thought I might as well with this one. Thanks for the reviews! =)

~Kai

Reiatsu: aka spiritual pressure in the English dub

Shinigami: lit. Death God. aka Soul Reaper

Reishi/Reishii: Spirit particles

Taichou: Captain (may not use much. I don't know how the Soul Society will fit into here yet...)

Fuku-taichou: Vice-captain/lieutenant. Will most likely use Vice-captain if at all.

Gotei 13: aka 13 Court Guard Squads

Nee-san/Nee-chan/Onee-san/-nee: all forms of sister

-nii/Nii-san/Nii-chan/Onii-san: all forms of brother

If I ever put more in, I'll make some footnotes. Also, if I don't feel that I need it, I won't use the Japanese word. Most of the time I'll only use the Bleach terms. It's easier on me. ^-^;

******Although I try to use last names first in BTtS, I most likely won't be in this story. I started using first names first in the first chapter without realizing it. I don't feel like changing it now...


	3. Bloody Dreams

DISCLAIMER: I wouldn't be writing fanfics if I owned Bleach. The only things I own are my OCs and this plot.

xXxXx

"Before you all run off like maniacs, I have one last thing to say. Have a good summer break, and try not to get yourselves killed!" Miss Ochi finished her summer speech to the class, and the final bell rang. As predicted, they all scrambled out of the room like there was no tomorrow. On his way out of the building, Ichigo was pulled into an empty classroom.

"What the hell-" he started. He looked at his kidnapper to see a short, black-haired girl.

"We need to talk, Ichigo," Rukia said. "It's about that new girl, Tori."

"Yeah, what about her?" he said.

"You need to erase her memories soon! You can't let her get involved in our business anymore! We both know that Soul Society will do something about it if we don't!"

"She deserves to know, Rukia! Last week I had to save her from a Hollow twice! If her reiatsu is so high, then she'll keep attracting Hollow. She might as well know what's happening. Besides, I erased them the first time, and I think she's starting to remember."

"Fine, don't erase her memories, but don't tell her anything. We don't know if we can trust her or not."

"Erase my memories? Why would you do that?" Tori said as she walked in the room. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear you two talking."

"This is none of your business," Rukia said. "You're better off not knowing."

"I think it is my business if my memories are at stake."

"Just let me tell her," Ichigo said. "She has to know."

"Please do tell, Ichigo," Tori said. "I would love to know." Ichigo looked at Rukia for permission, and she nodded.

"Rukia and I are Shinigami. Our job is to guide souls to Soul Society, or what humans would call the after life. We wield zanpakuto, which are basically manifestations of our powers. Zanpakuto are used to send souls to Soul Society and to slay Hollow. Hollow are former deceased souls that lose their hearts to despair or remain in the world of the living for too long. If a spirit hasn't been guided into Soul Society by a Shinigami, it may become a Hollow. That's the short version," Ichigo said.

"You really expect me to believe all that?!"

"If I'm lying, then what was that thing that attacked you the other day?"

Tori sighed. "Good point. I wonder what was up with that girl. Does she have any connection to all of this?"

"Girl? What girl?" Rukia said.

"I met this girl the other night. She looked about nine or ten. She had long gray hair, wore all black, and had red eyes. According to her, I should start believing in curses," Tori said.

"Curses?" Ichigo said.

"She said the descendants of the Tokugawa and Toyotomi clans are cursed. Or so says the tale of Kame and Izanagi."

"The tale of Kame and Izanagi is actually a curse?" Ichigo said.

"I guess you could put it that way."

"I'll head over to the Urahara Shoten to see if Kisuke knows anymore about that incident. You two be careful for now," Rukia said. With that she headed off to Urahara's to collect more information on the so-called curse.

0o0o0

_Screams echoed throughout the night, and bodies lie lifeless on the ground. Tori groaned in annoyance as she was shoved about by a panicking crowd._

_'What in the world is going on?' she thought. She looked to her left to see a woman guarding a small child. A cloaked figure approached her, and the look of fear on her face turned to that of fury. She closed her eyes tight as if she were wishing the creature away. Suddenly a bright light emitted from her. The dark figure cringed in pain, and soon after a dark purple light radiated from it. The two battled against each other -light versus dark._

_Elsewhere, more people cloaked in black shot balls of purple energy at the others so desperately trying to defend themselves. Tori watched the few houses around them go up in flames. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead, and she noticed her hands were warm and wet. She stared at her blood soaked hands in horror._

_A red haired man with a navy blue kimono stumbled over to her. "Help! Please help us, Miss!" The man grabbed Tori's shoulders and looked at her with pleading eyes. All she could do was look back at him speechless._

_"I- I'm sorry… I can't," she said and slowly shook her head. The man let go of her and turned to face his predator._

_"No, stop!" he cried. The dark figure said nothing and gathered a ball of purple energy in the palm of his hand. He directed the energy at the man, but he stopped it with a small, white shield in his hand. It held there for a moment before the shield broke and wounded the man severely. He dropped to the ground and looked at Tori._

_"It's all... your... fault," he choked out. Tori looked at her blood stained hands again and shook her head in disbelief._

_"No! No, you're wrong! I didn't do anything!" She looked at the rest of the scene before her and began to panic. Chaos wreaked havoc everywhere, and she could only stand there like a helpless child._

0o0o0

Tori sat up in her bed, covered in cold sweat.

'Thank God, it was only a dream,' she thought. She looked at her hands to confirm that she was really awake. The thought of all that blood terrified her. She was no killer. It was just a nightmare. There was nothing real about it.

…Right?

The events of the dream plagued her throughout the rest of the night. That same questions ran through her head over and over: "What did it mean? Was there any truth to it?" She could only tell herself that she was just overreacting.

xXxXx

So it's been awhile. You've probably realized by now that this is "No More Summer Love," only under a new title. I said the title was subject to change. haha But it is in fact the same story you have (or haven't) been reading. I edited the first two chapters, too. The next update may be awhile. Or not.

Thanks for the reviews! And thanks to my awesome beta, le Slytherin Princess! =D

~Kai


	4. Tired and Uninspired

As of today, I've decided I'm not continuing A Cruel Angel's Thesis.

Some of you probably saw this coming seeing as I haven't updated in about a year, and judging by the amount of unfinished work I have, I probably will never come back to this story. I wanted to update after I graduated, but I just couldn't interest myself in the story or Tori's character. When I originally thought of an IchixOC fanfic, I'd planned it to be as a romantic interest, not friendship. Thus far I haven't been able to convince myself that Tori and Ichigo can be more than friends, so I started focusing more on the plot/villains rather than the pairing. This story had a great deal of potential, but I put it off for so long that I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I hate giving up on the idea, but it's just not going anywhere right now.

I wouldn't be surprised if most people don't really care that I'm giving up on the story; I don't think friendship stories are all that popular to begin with, and it hasn't been updated in so long that it was probably long forgotten. My lack of interest is not the only reason for dropping ACAT though. The past school year was rather... rough, and I'm still trying to recover from it and prepare myself for college band and classes at the same time.

As of yet, this is the only story that I've decided to drop. I'll leave it up in case some of you still want to read it, but unless I find my muse again or have less going on, it's on permanent hiatus. I know ACAT isn't like Furareta, where it has tons of readers and fans (that's mostly due to the fact that Bayo-bayo-sama is a far better author than myself, but that's besides the point). It's not really that good. Another reason I've dropped it is that I can't stand my style of writing/plot organization on my major stories anymore.

Should I ever change my mind, I will delete this notice and continue with a new chapter, but I doubt I'll even give it a second thought. I just wanted to let my few readers know what was going on.

Thank you to those of you who have supported me and I'm sorry. I am, as the chapter title says, tired and uninspired.

-Shadow's Masquerade


End file.
